Moroccan man in France killed at home in front of wife in ‘horrible Islamophobic attack’

A Moroccan man in France was brutally killed after being stabbed 17 times in front of his wife at his own home by a neighbour in what is described as a “horrible Islamophobicattack”.

Mohamed El Makouli was confronted by a 28-year-old attacker who forced himself through the front door at around 1:30am on Wednesday, shouting “I am your god, I am your Islam”, the National Observatory Against Islamophobia said yesterday.

The father of one, 47, was killed in the quiet village of Beaucet, near Avignon in southern France, while his 31-year-old wife Nadia tried to save him. She suffered wounds to her hands before she fled the scene with their child to call the police.

Observatory president Abdallah Zekri condemned the attack “as a horrible Islamophobic attack” and claimed that the victim’s partner was very clear about what the man had shouted regarding Islam.

He told AFP: “She is sure of what he [the attacker] said.”

The man was charged on Thursday with murder, attempted murder and possession of drugs before he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Montfavet. Police said yesterday that the claims of Islamophobia will be investigated when they start questioning the attacker.